The letters, all slanted at the same angle, rippled smoothly across the parchment like wind through a field of wheat.
[Antoine: Old Barty Crouch is acting rather strange too. His subordinates say that he took a long leave not long ago and only recently returned to the Ministry of Magic.]
"...Took a long leave?"
Wade murmured softly, intrigued.
[Wade: After he came back, did you notice anything unusual? For example, did he look particularly haggard?]
[Antoine: Not exactly, but it's said he seems like a different person—no longer motivated about his work. He even appeared distracted during the Wizengamot meetings. At Monday's trial, he actually called the defendant by the wrong name.]
[Antoine: If Fudge had made that kind of mistake, no one would care. But when Crouch did it, everyone was shocked.]
[Antoine: Some people say Crouch has lost heart over certain matters lately, and he's even thinking about retiring... So, what do you think? Does this intel help you?]
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting dappled shadows across Wade's face.
He stood in the corridor for a long moment before replying: [Very helpful. Thank you, Antoine.]
The quill scratched softly across the parchment as images flickered through Wade's mind—
The blurred figure by the Black Lake; The mysterious appearance of Dumbledore;
Professor Murray, smiling as warmly as ever; Flitwick, standing on a chair waving his wand while setting up the stands; McGonagall, brow furrowed in stern concentration;
Moody, ever suspicious; And Snape, his eyes cold and cutting as always.
Those scattered figures swirled in his thoughts as he slowly descended the stairs, countless ideas rose and fell in his mind—only for him to suppress them all.
Suddenly, a voice came from the shadows.
"Hey, what's with that funeral face of yours?"
Wade looked up and saw Draco Malfoy leaning against the railing at the end of the staircase. His pale blond hair glinted softly in the light, his school robe looked refined, and he had a faint, mocking smile curved his lips.
The fearful, unsettled look he'd worn before was completely gone; he was once again the arrogant, insufferable "Young Master Malfoy," his pallid face alight with sneering amusement.
Wade lifted his eyelids slightly. "I was just thinking."
"Oh?" Draco raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. "So even the invincible champion has problems he can't solve?"
He tapped the railing lazily. "Mind if I hear about it? Maybe I'll be honored enough to offer my insight."
Wade hesitated for a moment.
Malfoy, steeped in Slytherin ideals since birth, thought differently from most. Perhaps he could offer a new perspective.
Descending the last step, Wade turned to ask, "If there's a wolf disguised as a sheep in a pen, how would you find it?"
Malfoy blinked, then gave a derisive laugh. "What kind of stupid question is that? Why would a wolf disguise itself as a sheep?"
"Maybe it wants to eat a particular little lamb," Wade said quietly, "but doesn't want the shepherd to notice."
"Because if the shepherd finds out—" He paused, eyes darkening.
"—it'll be killed."
Malfoy froze for a moment. Then he realized that although Wade's story sounded absurd, there was an unsettling seriousness in his tone.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "So even the shepherd can't tell which one is the wolf?"
Wade nodded. "Its disguise is too perfect."
"Then how would anyone even know there's a wolf hiding among the sheep?" Malfoy pressed.
A flicker of approval crossed Wade's eyes. "Perhaps because… they found gnawed bones and blood-stained fleece inside the pen."
Malfoy's mouth went rigid. A faint trace of alarm flashed across his pale face. He instinctively glanced around, then forced a strained smile.
"All right, you're creeping me out, Grey… Not a very funny joke, you know."
Wade looked at him quietly. As the silence stretched, Malfoy's fake smile stiffened further, the panic beneath beginning to leak through.
"Forget it," Wade said, stepping forward. "You can just think of it as a joke."
As they passed each other, Malfoy suddenly stepped back half a pace to clear the stairway.
He watched Wade walk past him, then suddenly spoke. "I once asked my father why, when you're not paying attention, house-elves seem to stop existing altogether. They're right there beside you, cleaning up the toys you just scattered—yet somehow, you don't see them."
Wade turned, looking at Malfoy's face, which now carried a trace of nostalgia.
"My father said…"
Malfoy tapped a statue near the staircase. "The reason we don't notice them isn't because they're hiding. It's because they're like the decorations in a corner—things that are within our sight, but beyond our vision."
He tilted his chin up and asked sideways, "When you came down the stairs just now—did you see this statue?"
Wade's gaze froze. Then it shifted toward the statue, over a meter tall. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled instantly, as if countless icy needles had pierced his skin. His temples began to throb.
Of course, he'd known there was a statue here.
But only now did he seem to realize what it was—a statue of Babayaga, the legendary witch who devoured children, standing atop a tiny wooden hut supported by a chicken's leg.
He had seen it—yet not seen it.
So that's it… that's what it means…
Wade turned and hurried away, his robes whipping behind him like a gust of wind as he disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
Draco stood where he was, watching his retreating back. A familiar sneer tugged at his lips.
"Hmph, Ravenclaw," he drawled disdainfully. "No sense of basic manners—typical of—"
The words caught in his throat. The muscles in his cheeks twitched slightly.
He had almost said mudbloods—the insult so familiar to his tongue—but now it felt like a burning coal. He swallowed it quickly.
…
Rain had just fallen near the castle. The damp air carried the scent of soil and fallen leaves, and the distant hoot of an owl echoed across the grounds.
Wade hurried across the lawn. As he rounded a pile of stones, he suddenly heard a faint rustling from a nearby thicket.
He turned sharply—and saw a massive black dog step halfway out of the shadows, glance around, and then transform into a strikingly handsome man.
"—Sirius?" Wade exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"I've been keeping watch over Harry in secret. Dumbledore knows—he's allowed me to come and go invisibly," said Sirius. "But you—where are you off to this late?"
"I need to talk to Hagrid about something," Wade replied vaguely.
"Wait, I'll come with you."
Sirius raised his wand and tapped himself on the head. His body faded from top to bottom until he vanished completely.
Wade raised an eyebrow. "Still worried about my safety inside the school?"
"I should conjure a mirror so you can see your face right now," Sirius's disembodied voice teased. "You don't look like someone going to see Hagrid—you look like you're about to commit murder and cover it up."
"You're exaggerating," Wade muttered, rubbing his face with both hands.
When he looked up again, Sirius's invisible voice came, amused: "Mm… now you look a bit more like a fourteen-year-old."
Wade rolled his eyes inwardly, strode toward Hagrid's cabin, and rapped hard on the door.
Knock, knock, knock…
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- 200+ Chapters
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